GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Former Florida coach Urban Meyer, whose teams won two national titles, was inducted into the Gators’ ring of honor Saturday night after the first quarter of their game against Oklahoma.
Meyer joined linebacker Wilber Marshall, running back Emmitt Smith, quarterback and coach Steve Spurrier, quarterbacks Tim Tebow and Danny Wuerffel, and defensive end Jack Youngblood in the equivalent of the program’s football hall of fame.
Tebow was the last player inducted in 2018.
“I want to thank Gator nation for your support. I want to thank our incredible coaching staff. But most importantly I want to thank some of the greatest Gator football players of all time,” Meyer said during a brief presentation on the field.
Meyer spend six seasons at Florida (2005-2010), winning national titles in 2006 over Ohio State and in 2008 over Oklahoma. His name was unveiled on the top wall behind the end zone inside the Swamp.
He recalled reading a strength book by former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne and so began an obsession with coaching. He read books on Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden, Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler.
“And then I look up there (on the wall) and said, ‘That’s always going to be there.’ Very humbling,” Meyer said during a brief interview at halftime.
Meyer was 187-32 in 17 seasons at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State. He won 22 of 24 games at Utah before taking over at Florida. He went 65-15 with the Gators (36-12 in the Southeastern Conference) before leaving amid health issues.
He said the turning point at Florida came in his first year, when Florida lost on the road to a Spurrier-coached South Carolina team. The Gators were 7-3, but Meyer was irritated at the clowning around on the plane ride home.
“That program was really teetering,” he said. “We went two weeks of just misery, and I was fine with it. We come back two weeks later and put it all over Florida State. That flipped the program.”
Meyer landed at Ohio State two years later and won a national title with the Buckeyes in 2015.
“When he came here and spoke to our coaches’ clinic this spring, I had him spend time with our coaching staff and, you know, basically gave him the head coach’s chair for a little bit, let him lead a meeting with our staff to kind of help cast what expectations look like in Florida and what the standards are,” Florida coach Jon Sumrall said. “And, man, he deservedly is being honored this weekend.”
Meyer was asked to define the Florida standard, and it was all about results.
“It was explained to me very clearly by my boss, (athletic director) Jeremy Foley. Florida Gators win championships. It’s not that complicated,” Meyer said. “It can kill you because you work so hard to do that. But that’s the way it is.”
Meyer was inducted into the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame last November. The Gators planned to induct Meyer into their ring of honor to start the 2022 season against Utah, where he coached before coming to Florida. But Meyer’s lone NFL season with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021 ended with him getting fired after allegedly kicking a player.
Meyer now works as a college football analyst for Fox Sports and has said repeatedly he no plans to return to coaching amid the ever-changing landscape of college football that includes players earning money for use of their name, image and likeness.
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AP Sports Writer Mark Long contributed to this report.
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